Israel Sending Aid to Rumania

The first shipment of aid left today for Rumania which is still reeling from Friday’s disastrous earthquake while Israeli officials waited word from Bucharest as to what aid was needed. The earthquake killed at least 200 people in Bucharest and an estimated 1000 in the country and left the Rumanian capital looking as it if had been hit by an air raid

No Israelis were hurt in the quake, according to reports reaching here. But 70 Israeli students were saved by attending a Purim party at the Israeli Embassy Friday night instead of being in their homes which were reportedly destroyed. The Israelis fled the Embassy building itself when the earth moved.

There were no immediate reports of casualties among Bucharest’s 40,000 Jews or the 20,000 Jews living elsewhere in the county. Except for one synagogue, all buildings owned by the Bucharest Jewish community were undamaged. President Ephraim Katzir. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon and Histadrut Secretary General Yeruham Meshel all sent cables of condolences to their counterparts in Rumania.

The Rumanian Immigration Association met tonight to coordinate information coming out of Rumania and to make plans for aiding the stricken country. There were suggestions to start a public fund drive and to house Rumanian children here until their homes were rebuilt.

Israeli geologists said today that Israel could not be affected directly by the Rumanian earthquake which was felt as far as Moscow and Rome. But, the geologists noted, Israel is in an area which has suffered earthquakes in the past and will probably have them in the future. According to geological statistics, this region suffers a quake about once every 100-150 years. The last one was 50 years ago in the Jericho area.